Whoever Said that Mistletoe's Cliché?
by Nekomiimii
Summary: With a sour attitude and a competition going around, Piko knew that he needed to come up something. Fast. With help from an unexpected source, it just might happen. Gift Fic for XFearlessPurple21x and contest entry for Ventiwings Valentine's Contest.


A/N:

Another gift Fic for xFearlessPurple21x using her favorite pairing! I kind of like the ideas that're used for these two that I get. Why can't I come up with anything like this for other pairings? X'D OTL

Oh, and I'm gonna kill two birds with one stone and say that this is also my entry for Ventiwings Contest. This may be out of season, but I hope it won't be that much trouble.

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><p>Gakupo made an interesting proposition.<p>

"Since she has been in such a foul mood as of late, I have come up with conclusion to rid her of such _mal humor_."

Curious, we all edged a bit closer in our seats. Recently, the usually peppy, cheerful, and obnoxious redhead that I call my best friend who also happened to have harbor deeper feelings for, has had an extreme personality change. After her birthday, SF-A2 miki's mood had been "in the dumps", as Ryuto and Yuki would put it.

Just like that.

One day, she was smiling and the world was good, free-puppies-for-everyone kind of happy, and then the next we found her wishing that everyone would just die. Minus Kaito's good-natured smile. She was serious.

Now it was already Christmas Eve and Miku invited all of us to her "humble" Company to celebrate the occasion. And she only had one condition. The problem? She didn't want to see a single frown on anybody's faces. The girls kind of gave up on trying to improve Miki's attitude because she would always worm her way out of it by either teleporting away, or simply scaring the fudge out of them by creating craters in the walls with her fist. Nobody wanted to mess with a person like that, not even Lily. But everybody had to agree that it was a weak attempt on Miku's part. I'm pretty sure Miki still wouldn't want to come if it wasn't for Ryuto's, Oliver's, Iroha's, Lui's and Yuki's childish pouts. They knew how to get to her, yet it still wasn't enough to get her to smile.

So, Luka "kindly" asked her "secret" lover for some help. Which is why all of the "adult" Male Vocals (because Yuma was there and Ryuto was not but for some reason Len was still allowed in), had to come up with an idea that would get a smile out of her. That is why we were in Gak-kun's room, drinking shots - minus me - at a round table like we were Arthur's knights trying to plot a way to save Guinevere or something, despite the fact that we were sitting on tatami mats in and were forced to wear Yukatas.

All right, as I was saying about Gakupo's interesting proposition.

"You must all come up with your own unique way to bring her out of the shadows. If any of you are able to successfully pull of that feat, then you shall be graciously rewarded."

My ahoge perked up and I stood up straighter. The idea of receiving something out of this caught my attention. I mean, yeah, I love Miki and all that, but it's just an added bonus and Gakupo's been known to horde some pretty rare items. Being able to possess one usually had to be earned through a series of ridiculous tasks that he would set up for the unsuspecting challenger. So far, nobody has received such an "honor", as he puts it, from him, but he has tried to force it onto Yuma. He's pretty harsh on him since he doesn't, in his words not mine, "embody the soul of a true Samurai". Yuma didn't do Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for nothing.

"So what's the reward going to be?" Len impatiently asked.

Gakupo frowned at his outburst. "Patience is a virtue, Len-ku-"

"Unless you wait too long and miss your chance," he readily shot back.

Gakupo narrowed his glaucous eyes but chose to ignore him. "In any case, it is obvious as to why I cannot be involved in this activity, which I will readily explain in a moment. Now, other than me, who else has a significant other?"

Yuma groggily stood up and bowed his head. "Then I can't be in this so-called 'competition', or at least that's the feeling I'm getting from all of this. I've got Aria on my side and I think I've got a good idea on what your plan is going to be about. Count me out," he said in a monotone voice, almost as if though he was trying to prove just how stupid Gakupo was for even attempting a jab at this. Well, if that was how he felt, then the rest of us that had decided to stay behind were all stupid, then.

After we heard him slide the door shut did Gakupo finally release the breath that he was holding. He rubbed his eyes, mumbling some phrases under his breath, and I couldn't help but smile. The only other Vocaloid who wasn't Luka who could get back at him. He stopped talking to himself and turned to face the rest of us again.

"Yuma's intuition is very. . . accurate. More so than what I have given him credit," he grudgingly admitted. "As I have already said, this is a request that was made by my beloved. I have an idea on how to lighten the young woman's mood, but do any of you have any other suggestions before I reveal mine?"

He was just toying with us. Regardless of what we say, he's going to go with whatever the hell he wants to go by. Asshole.

When nobody bothered to share a thought, he smirked and slid his hands inside of his sleeves and puffed out his chest. He acts so much like a peacock sometimes, it's irritating.

"It's quite simple, really," he prompted, waiting for one of us to guess what it was. Again, all he received were the faint chirping of crickets in the background. He sighed in mock disappointment. "A brief connection of intimacy is all I ask."

"Soooo, you mean you want to see if we can hug her? That's all its gonna take to get her to stop bitching?" Lui asked, hand propped up cradling his chin, obviously bored. I almost forgot he was here. Wait. . . why was he even here?

Gakupo bit down on his lower lip to keep himself from laughing. "No. Kiss her."

Lui facedesked. His chin slipped and he abruptly got up, his face flushed a deep shade of red. "N-no thank you! I've still got a chance with Iroha and I'm not gonna screw this up by making out with her best friend!" he seethed.

We all had to keep from slipping up. We should have known he was going to react like that, but really? This _is_ Gakupo we're talking about. Plus, he did warn us all in the beginning that if we had somebody already that it was fine to chicken out. It was the "noble" thing to do, after all.

Before he had time to respond, Lui got up and marched out of the room but not without making a scene of slamming the door shut and muttering some choice words. Cute kid.

We all looked at each other, almost daring for any of us to call it quits. Now, there was me, Kaito, Len, and Kiyoteru. _This should be fun_, I thought and shifted a bit on my mat trying to get comfortable again. My foot had fallen asleep.

Gakupo must have had the same idea because he cleared his throat pretty loudly before his eyes scanned the rest of us again and grinned. "You brave men must now come up with a way on how to capture the fair maiden's heart before midnight. If any of you fail to complete this task, you will be forced to submit to my every whim for the rest of the week," he said with a devilish grin. Bastard.

"Good enough for me!" Len piped up. I rolled my eyes. Of course it is, he is hopelessly enraptured by her, for some reason. He doesn't even speak to her! He's better off with either Rin or Olivia. Or perhaps both. With Gumi since she and Rin are already involved with each other. Oh Kami, stray from those thoughts, stray away, straaaay. Not stay, stray.

"I guess I'll stick around. I don't have anything better to do," Kaito admitted before getting up and fixing his yukata.

"And I've already finished writing and correcting everybody's assessments," Kiyoteru said and followed suit.

Gakupo turned and looked at me expectantly. "I assume you have also accepted the challenge?"

I shrugged, trying to act indifferent. "Meh, guess so. Like BaKaito said, I've got nothing better to do."

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><p><em><strong>xXx<strong>_

* * *

><p>There are some really desperate guys in this life, believe me. Though there are some that are coy and even "cutesy" in their attempts, you can't deny that nagging feeling at the back of your mind that practically screams,"Sod off already!"<p>

Well, that's the impression I got from just looking at Miki's face when the other guys went up to her. It was hilarious, at first, with the failed pocky attempts, idiotic favors, and cliché hint devices. Let me elaborate.

Len was the bold one on this and the reason for having me think this way. After seeing a red-faced IA and a stumbling Yuma make a valiant attempt at the pocky game - that they were dragged into thanks to Ring, Miku, and Lily - , Len was inspired to create his own version.

Let's just say that Miki was not amused to have a peeled banana shoved in her face that he held in his mouth. All he received on the other end was a whole bundle shoved in his face with Rin and Gumi laughed their asses off at the scene. It was pretty funny, though, but it certainly didn't help with Miki's mood. I'm pretty sure it actually got _worse_, if that was possible.

After the rest of the guests caught wind of it, it's safe to assume that Len wouldn't be showing his face to her for some time. But come on, a banana? Really? Geeze, and I actually gave him a bit more credit before this whole thing started. Even though he was out of the competition, at least he had an idea and I was a bit lacking there.

It didn't get any better when it was Kiyoteru's turn. Poor man, being of the timid sort, especially when one of his roommates could turn into a complete savage in the blink of an eye. And then when the person who has a crush on you is in the same room watching you attempt to explain the benefits of locking lips that correlates to a longer life, you just can't seem to get a break. Girls are so stupid if they think that Geek is the new Sexy. Oh well, it looks a lot like Lily is now apart of the free market. . .

Then came Kaito, ever unoriginal Kaito. . . But I'm pretty sure he would have gotten the prize if he hadn't eaten his idea. Dear Kami, I mean, if you offer the girl a cherry cone with three scoops, you just don't go on ahead and start nibbling on it _while_ she's watching you, waiting for you to offer some to her, and then you wait until you're at the last bite. It's already horribly cliché as is by getting her favorite flavor and then giving it to her as a gift, but you just don't go and eat the last bite and tell her that she has to slip her tongue in his mouth to go get it. That would only land you her fists, not her lips. I mean, geeze, really? Some people. . .

Well, I have no room to talk, I still hadn't done a thing to approach her and frankly, I'm pretty sure she was on the verge of snapping anybody's neck, man, woman, and child. Ayyy, this was going to be a lot harder than what I thought. . .

"Yo, Piko?"

I didn't need to turn around to guess whose boozy voice that was. "Yes, Meiko?"

"Didja try anythin' wit' 'er yet?" she slurred.

"I don't have the faintest idea," I admitted. It didn't seem all that difficult when Gakupo didn't put any restrictions on this event, but now I was beginning to lose hope in myself when I flipped my phone from my pocket and saw that I had less than fifteen minutes left.

I swore under my breath while Meiko looked up at me with curious eyes. She started to move her champagne glass in small circles, lost in the small ripples of the drink while the bubbles floated up, when a mischievous gleam flickered in her chestnut orbs.

She looked up at me and gave me a wicked grin. I recognized that look all too well whenever she hung out with Lily, Prima and Haku, so I braced myself for those dreaded words:

"I have an idea."

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><p><strong><em>xXx<em>**

* * *

><p>"You're crazy, this can't work."<p>

"And why the hell not?"

" 'Cause it's stupid, that's why!"

"Pffft, you won't be saying that once you get your prize~"

"How did you know -"

"Oh please! Like Lui didn't spill a thing when he marched in and did his thing. You now that boy pretty well."

I grumbled under my breath while I waited for her to finish perfecting the bow on my ahoge. My heart began to painfully beat inside of my chest to the point where I was afraid it was going to force it's way through my ribcage. It also didn't help that my stomach felt like it was trying to turn itself into a pretzel and that my hands were shaking and felt cold. Why the hell was I getting worked up over this? This plan has to work! At least this wasn't Lily who was helping me and I had more faith in our Senior. But still, if this ended up in a disaster, I highly doubt I wouldn't be able to eat solid foods for a while.

"Calm down will ya and stand still," she ordered.

I sucked in my breath and stood up straight, like a soldier, and watched her pour the amber liquid into a tiny perfume bottle that she had emptied from Miku's room. The fluid was at the brim of the bottle when she closed the cap on it and turned around."Close your eyes and hold your breath. Since you don't do it often, I don't think you'd like to inhale it in."

"I'm already doing that."

"Then keep at it!" she barked.

I rolled my eyes behind my closed lids and felt the light spray ghost itself over my skin and shivered. Once she gave me the A-OK, I opened my eyes up and wrinkled my nose in disgust.

"Oh yuck, I smell just like you will by tomorrow!" I remarked. I narrowly escaped the punch that she was going to give to me as a gift. "Love you, too. . ." I mumbled under my breath.

She rolled her eyes and shook the bottle menacingly. "Just don't' screw this up, you prick! I'm being nice as is by helping you cheat, so you better keep your end of the deal."

I grimaced. "Sure, sure, Mei-san. You'll be paid in full the next time we meet," I promised.

She beamed. "Good! Now, if you'll excuse me~" she lulled, her eyes now filled with mirth as she glanced at the bottle in her hand with glee.

"Right, I'll leave you be with it then so then you huff out its contents. It's not different from what you already do anyway," I smirked.

I had to bolt out the door to avoid being part of the late night news tonight.

Once I was out in the hallway, close to the living room where I could hear a peal of laughter coming from the new "sisters", Ring and Miku.

_Steady now, she'll be right there once you turn the corner. And besides, this shouldn't be too hard to pull off, shouldn't it? I mean, you've seen and heard on how they act and what they say when they're gone? You can do this! Focus, just focus. . ._

"What's up, Piko?"

I jumped and whirled around to meet a pair of shimmering sapphire eyes. "Oh, it's just you." I calmed down a bit when I heard her giggle.

"I see you really are a part of it then," SeeU affirmed with a cattish grin.

I shrugged. "Guess so. Just gotta make sure I can act my part and pray to the gods that I'll be able to have another glass of eggnog when this is over."

That got her to laugh and bob her head in agreement with me.

"Yeah, it'd be a shame if we can't see you anymore!" Came a new voice.

With her puffed out dress and the way her hair had been elaborately held up, you'd think I would have noticed her. But she still slipped under my radar.

"And why don't you want me to, Rion?" I inquired.

She shrugged. " 'Cause then it'd, I don't know, feel a little lacking, I guess. I mean, there's like, almost forty of us and stuff. I think it'd be pretty obvious if we started missing out #1 favorite Shota!" she exclaimed.

SeeU nodded again. "Rion has a point. Well, break a leg. I hope that we can see each other again after today."

"Yep, yep, yep! Maybe we'll see you later. And love the hat!"

"Yeah," I murmured after they were gone. "Me, too."

I really am too young to die. I mean, I'm only one, dammit!

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><p><strong><em>xXx<em>**

* * *

><p>There she was. All alone in the kitchen with her back to the door while absentmindedly stirring her glass of mystery beverage with a delicate finger. She took an occasional sip every now and then. She looked pretty melancholic. Downright miserable, if you asked me. I gulped a large intake of air to steel my nerves and hobbled forward.<p>

"Mi-chan~!" I slurred, a glass of spiked eggnog in my hand while I draped the other around her shoulders. She jumped from the sudden contact and turned around only to glare at me.

"What do you want?" she snarled, her voice heavily saturated in hatred and malice. Ouch.

"Nuthin'~" I had to keep the charade going on long enough, I couldn't back out now.

She caught my scent and tried to shove me off of her. "Wh-what the hell is wrong with you? ! How many did you drink this time? You reek!"

I shut one of my eyes and scratched my head with the same hand that was haphazardly draped over her. "Iono, maybeh shish, shevun, eight? I lost count~" I giggled and wrapped my other arm around her, nearly spilling the eggnog in the process.

"Let me go, you drunk!" she spat while trying to worm her way out of my grasp. Nuh uh, can't let her do that, now can I?

"Aww, lighten up, Mi-chan!" I said with a pout. "It's Christmas!"

"Eve," she corrected.

I shrugged to show her just how little I cared. "Still has Christmas in its name!"

She scoffed and rolled her eyes at me again and nearly got away when she tried to duck down. Luckily for me, her ahoge is more like a hook than a closed note and got caught on my arm so I was able to hoist her up. What a lightweight.

"Let go of me!" she yelled, grabbing the others attention from the other room. Heels were clicking, soles were squeaking, and I was inwardly smiling through all of this.

The kitchen was packed in seconds. There wasn't a single person in the Company building that didn't want to get a piece of this. Lui, Iroha and Neru whipped out their phones, readily positioned to catch all of the action.

Miki paused when she saw the kind of scene that we were causing and beat her fist on my shoulder. Hard. "I'm giving you until the count of three to let me go!" she threatened.

I shrugged. "Even if ya count to infinity, I ain't gonna let chu go," I quipped with a lop-sided grin.

She clicked her tongue in annoyance and I knew she was going to use that same old annoying trick of hers by warping out of her when her hand went up to her start pendant. I wasn't going to let this chance die so I did what I felt like I had to do and grabbed her wrists and shove her towards the counter top, effectively trapping her in the nook where the two pieces met.

The shocked and panicked look in her eye told me that I was getting close in capturing the queen. So I kept up with my strategy and giggled. I leaned in close and nuzzled the nape of her neck.

"Now, now, Mi-chan," I said in an admonishing tone,"don't ruin the fun just yet. I'm just getting started~ It is Christmas after all, why don't you want to spend some time of it with me?" I added a pout to strengthen my accusation.

If I had lifted my head any higher, she would have used hers to whack me senseless with it. When she knew that it wasn't going to work, she tried another tactic by using those long legs of hers to kick me away. Naturally, I had to subdue her so I did the only other option I had that didn't involve the use of my hands. She saw the grin on my face when I pressed our bodies together to lock her in and she squeaked. I heard giggling in the background and rolled my eyes. _Oh please. . ._

"Is Mi-chan comfortable~?" I childishly asked.

"No she is not!" she snapped.

I couldn't help it when I laughed. She was actually pretty cute when she was flustered like this, her face glowing a brilliant red shade. This was all too much for her to bear and she knew she couldn't win.

I breathed a sigh on her neck and smirked in satisfaction when I noticed the way her skin prickled. Of course, she wouldn't let me stay satisfied long enough when she tried to hurt me again. I turned to everyone and clicked my tongue. "Is it just me, or is this place getting pretty hot?" I asked to nobody in particular.

CUL shook her head. "Uh nope! So you can, uh, keep going at wherever you're heading with this," she said with a nod of acknowledgement, her face tainted a light pink. Mew nodded and hugged little Lapis closer against her chest. Oh man, I didn't realize just how far this could escalate so I had to end things now.

"Ayy, I think I'm getting hot. I think I'mma take off meh hat nao~"

Just like that, I shook my head and freed my ahoge from it's restraint and saw her face, with satisfaction might I add, when her eyes looked close to popping out of her sockets.

Mistletoe.

I could almost feel the smug grin that Meiko was projecting onto my back. If this worked and I still had enough of my dignity left over, I'd have to pay her double. I'm pretty sure Gakupo's reward will be all the more sweeter, too.

"Know what this is?" Of course she did, but I just wanted to relish the moment when she was weak and under my thumb.

She numbly nodded her head and since the room was so quiet, I heard her let out a soft whimper. Usually, I would have felt a little sorry for her and I was pretty close on dropping this charade so that I could let her go, scot free. However, letting Meiko's idea go to waste like this would mean I wouldn't even have a soul to send into the after life. And besides, I don't think I'd have another chance like this so I had to milk this opportunity for everything it had.

"Good~!" I gave out an innocent laugh before leaning close to her face and sending her a wicked grin. "Then I'm sure you know what the consequences are that mistletoe brings?" I told her in a soft voice, so soft that I was almost afraid that she didn't hear me.

She erased that qualm when she repeated the action from earlier. She was getting to be easier than I thought. Or maybe she was already exhausted from fending off the other three from earlier this evening. My eyes glanced towards the time on the stove. A minute left. Better make this quick.

"It's also considered bad luck if you don't follow," I reminded her. Miki's incredibly superstitious for some reason, so that alone was enough to have her completely submit to me and allowed me to get away with what happened next.

_Checkmate._

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><p><strong><em>xXx<em>**

* * *

><p>"There. I won, so where's my reward?"<p>

Gakupo smiled and pulled a scroll out of his sleeve and I almost jumped in glee from the sight. My mind began to race at a hundred miles an hour. _What could be inside?_ I wondered. Could it be a famous and rare painting from the Xing Dynasty? Or maybe some godly advice? His secret stash of forbidden reads? It was just to much to keep bottled up that I nearly tore the scroll by unrolling it so fast.

Correction: I did tear it up when I saw what was inside. Or lack thereof.

"What the hell was that? !" I hissed.

Gakupo dipped his head back and let out a hearty laugh. "That, my dear friend, is your gift."

"A blank scroll? What the fu-"

"Uh uh uh, language." he scolded with a click of his tongue.

"-fook! What kind of a reward is that? You promised something great and that's all I get? Just some freakin' blank scroll? You cheap, Bishie sonofa-"

"Hush now, Piko. You have already received your reward."

I stopped my tirade blinked at him in confusion. "Say whut?"

He gave me a coy smile. "I know of your true affections for her. You just needed a little push into the right direction."

Wait, hold on. Where is the rewind button on the remote of life when you need one?

"After all," he continued,"why else would she should be so upset when you failed to show up at her birthday? You were off with the other boys at the time, if I may recall, and that itself brought her wrath upon us all." he finished with a pompous smirk.

That was it? She was just pissy because I didn't go to her party? Well, okay, I understand that because I was upset when she didn't come to mine, but still, she could have just - wait minute. . .

The color of my face must have given me away because Gakupo let out another round of merriment. Was it that obvious?

"From your expression, I would have to say yes!" he confirmed.

. . . Aw hell naw.

"S-so, you only did this whole fucked up-"

"Langua-"

"_I don't give a fuck!_" I screeched. "You organized this whole thing just to get me to admit to her, then?" I raged.

He nodded.

"Did the others know about this, too?" I demanded. Heads are gonna roll tonight.

Fortunately for them, he shook his head. "They were merely pawns in all of this. Just a way to see if this event would motivate you enough to get on with your confession. I do believe I had failed to give you a gift several weeks ago. . ." he mused.

Oh, so that's why. Setting me up with my crush that I had done an excellent job, in my opinion, of hiding and he exposes all of that because of him manipulating my competitive nature? That sicko. Samurai Honor my ass.

Another thought entered my head on how badly this would have turned out for me if she had accepted a kiss that didn't come from me while he was talking, but I didn't want to listen to another damned thing he had to say because next thing I knew it, I marched on over to where his katana was resting at, unsheathed it, and brought it right in front of his face.

"You've got until the count of three," I hissed, pissed off beyond belief.

Oh yeah, heads are gonna roll. And then I'll see to Miki afterwards. I heard that she's pretty good at healing injuries.

* * *

><p>AN:

Yuma strikes me as somebody who would know how to do Jiu-Jitsu. And I don't know why, but I just threw the new pairing of Yuma and IA because I didn't know what kind of trick he would pull to get Miki's attention and get her to drop her guard. XD I tried to think of some new methods along with cliche attempts (like Kaito's ice cream trick), but I originally had something else in mind of how Piko was going to get Miki, but I ended up liking this one a lot better. I hope it came out all right as a gift fic for Purple! OTL

Oh, and about Lui, even though he doesn't have a voice yet, I'm still aiming that his VP really will be a guy. I guess I'm just trying to be lucky by doing this, but. . . N-neh. . . OTL|||


End file.
